Intimate Seduction Read online

  He stepped into the elevator thinking next Friday couldn’t get there fast enough.

  “So where do you want to go Friday night?”

  Natalie resisted the urge to tell Farrah nowhere. Although she much preferred staying in and curling up with a good book, she knew she and Farrah needed to get together. They hadn’t seen each other since Christmas, the last time Natalie had returned to Charlotte. Besides, Friday would be exactly a year to the date that Farrah’s divorce from Dustin had been final. That wouldn’t have been so bad if Dustin had felt any remorse for cheating on his wife. Instead, once Farrah had confronted him with her suspicions about his extramarital affairs, he hadn’t tried to deny them, nor had he apologized for breaking his marriage vows. Instead he informed his wife of four years not to waste time forgiving him since he wanted a divorce to marry the other woman—the woman who’d had his child. And he’d done just that—less than a week after his divorce had been final.

  “Natalie?”

  Natalie blinked and stared down at the speakerphone on the desk, realizing she hadn’t answered Farrah’s question. “Doesn’t matter. Wherever you want to go is okay with me.”

  “Um, in that case, Nat, I want to go somewhere there will be a lot of men.”

  Natalie could only shake her head while thinking that Friday would be one of those nights. Last July she and Farrah had met in New York for the weekend to do some shopping and take in a play. She had let Farrah talk her into going to this nightclub in Harlem, and the two of them, along with several very handsome men, had danced the night away. Her feet actually ached at the memory. She smiled when she remembered the disappointed faces of the men who’d thought they would be getting more from her and Farrah than a few dance moves.

  “That’s fine. You pick the place,” she decided to say, shifting her gaze to the flowers that had just been delivered to her aunt. They were from Donovan Steele. She could tell her aunt had appreciated the man for being thoughtful enough to send them.

  “Um, what about the Racetrack Café?”

  Farrah reclaimed Natalie’s attention with her question. She had heard about the Racetrack Café but had never been there since it had opened up after she left town for college. From what she’d heard, it wasn’t your typical sports bar and grill. She understood the food was good and the atmosphere friendly. And usually there were more men there than women because on occasion a well-known race-car driver would drop by.

  “The Racetrack Café sounds like a winner to me as long as you don’t plan to dance all night.”

  Farrah’s laughter came through the speakerphone. “I promise I won’t.”

  “Glad you could join us, Donovan.”

  Donovan couldn’t help but smile at his oldest brother. Even if Chance hadn’t been born the oldest, he would still be the perfect one for the CEO role. He was a born leader, and Donovan would admit grudgingly that Chance was one of the few people who could keep him in line. Most of the time. Bas and Morgan knew it was a lost cause.

  “Sorry, I got somewhat detained,” he responded entering the room and closing the door behind him. As he took a seat, he glanced at the others already there—Bas, Morgan and Vanessa—who no doubt had been on time. Unlike his two brothers who were staring at him, Vanessa had chosen to pass the time by messing with her BlackBerry.

  She’d only been married a year, and if he were to guess by the way her thumbs were working, she was sending her husband, Cameron, a dirty little text message. The way her lips tilted at the corners in a devilish smile all but confirmed he was right; whatever message she’d sent had been hot and sleazy. He of all people knew just how that part of a person’s mind worked.

  Since she had been too busy texting to notice he’d arrived, he said, “I’m here now, Vanessa, so you can stop texting Cameron those pornographic messages.”

  She snapped her head up, glared at him and then opened her mouth as if to deny that was exactly what she’d been doing. And then as if she’d thought about it for a quick second, she closed her mouth and the glare slowly vanished from her face. She tilted her head at an angle and lifted her chin. “Doesn’t matter. We’re married now,” she said haughtily.

  “Thank God.”

  That had come from Morgan and understandably so. Cameron was his best friend, and he of all people knew how long it had taken Cameron to win Vanessa over. As far as Donovan was concerned, it was too long. It was his opinion that no woman had been or currently was worth all of that.

  “Now that we’re all here,” Chance said, before anyone else could make a comment. “I’m turning the meeting over to Morgan. Since he heads the research and development department, he will bring us up to date on some information we received this weekend regarding Gleeve-Ware.”

  Donovan shifted his gaze to Morgan. Not for the first time he wondered how Morgan did it. He was a father-to-be, worked hard for SC and in addition to that, he was a political figure in town. He had won a council at-large seat last year. Where did the man get all his energy?

  “I wanted to bring something to your attention,” Morgan was saying. “I got a call from Juan on Sunday morning. Someone tried to break into the lab Saturday night. The alarm sounded but nothing was taken. He just wanted to make us aware that someone is interested in what we have going on with Gleeve-Ware and will probably stop at nothing to get the formula.”

  Donovan nodded. Morgan had gone to college with the chemist, Juan Hairston, they had hired to head the Gleeve-Ware project. “What do you need from us to make sure that doesn’t happen?” Donovan asked.

  “All the appropriate steps have been taken to protect and maintain the secrecy of the chemical process formula, but still, I’m encouraging everyone to keep your eyes and ears open and report anything suspicious to Bas since he’s our troubleshooter working with security,” Morgan said.

  “And, Vanessa, I suggest you get with Holly Brubeck in HR to make sure we’re doing periodic security checks on any employee with access to our trade secrets, and to make sure all employment applicants sign confidentiality agreements. The last thing we want is to hire someone whose goal is to steal the formula for Gleeve-Ware right out from under our noses.”

  Vanessa nodded. “Is there anything else you want me to do from a PR standpoint?”

  “No, but don’t be surprised if we suddenly start getting painted with a negative brush,” Chance responded to say. “If the culprits can’t get the information they want, they might resort to smear ads or negative accusations.”

  “Like they did a couple years ago when they put out the rumor we were outsourcing,” Bas added, reminding everyone.

  The meeting lasted for another half hour when other business matters were discussed. Right before Chance closed the meeting, Donovan spoke up. “Just an FYI. I will be working from home on Fridays for the next few weeks.”

  Bas raised a brow. “Is there a reason why?”

  Donovan smiled at everyone who was looking at him. “No reason.”

  But he knew his brothers knew him well enough to know such a move probably involved a woman.

  And they were right.

  But they had no idea that he was meticulously planning the intimate seduction of one Natalie Ford.

  Chapter 4

  “If you need to reach me, Donovan, just give me a call on my cell phone,” Kylie Steele threw over her shoulder as she quickly headed for the door. “You probably won’t get many customers, and most of them will be phone orders instead of walk-ins. See you later.” And then she was gone.

  He chuckled as he took the stool behind the counter and watched his sister-in-law pull out of the parking lot. He’d covered for her before and knew what to do. He had an hour or so to kill until she returned so he might as well make the best of it, and with the flat-screen TV on the wall directly behind him, at least he wouldn’t get bored.

  To kill some time, he took his BlackBerry out of his pocket and scrolled through his text messages. Most of them were from Joanne Summerville, the woman he’d met at the
races this past weekend. He hoped she wouldn’t start making a nuisance of herself. He could definitely do without that type of woman.

  A half hour later he had put his BlackBerry away and his attention was concentrated on the television, namely CNN, thinking it was a damn shame Soledad O’Brien was a married woman. He was about to scoot the stool closer to the television for a closer view of her when the jingle of the bell above the door alerted him that he had a customer. He glanced up and saw an elderly woman with a cane stop in her tracks when she saw him.

  “Where’s Kylie?” she asked him accusingly.

  He lifted a brow. The way the woman had asked implied she thought he had done away with his sister-in-law. “She had to step out,” he decided to answer to assure her misplaced fears. “May I help you?”

  She frowned at him. “And who are you?”

  The woman sure asked a lot of questions. He wondered how long it would take for her to place an order and leave. She was presently standing in the way of him and Soledad. “I’m her brother-in-law,” he said, hoping that would allay whatever problems she had with him.

  He watched, surprised, as a slow smile replaced her frown. “Oh, you’re one of those Steele boys.”

  He chuckled. He hadn’t heard him and his brothers described just that way in a long time. Of the four of them, most people knew Bas mainly because while growing up he’d had a reputation around town for getting in all kinds of trouble. “Yes, ma’am, I’m one of those Steele boys.”

  “And which one are you?”

  “The youngest.”

  She nodded. “Oh, you’re the one who likes the girls.”

  That was him, all right. He lifted a brow, wondering just who this woman was. One thing was for certain; she had just made a pivotal point about him and he had no problem admitting it. “Yes, ma’am, I’m the one who likes the girls.”

  “Just like Drew did in his day.”

  Donovan couldn’t help but laugh. Drew Steele was one of his father’s cousins, and from what Donovan had heard, thirty years ago Drew had had to leave Charlotte when a bunch of women threatened to do him bodily harm because of his notorious reputation. Drew escaped to Phoenix, eventually married and had a slew of kids.

  “Yes, just like Drew,” he said, not the least bit ashamed to claim such a thing. What he didn’t say was that, unlike Drew, Donovan felt he had his game together and didn’t intend to get run out of town by a bunch of women. Times had changed. Most men weren’t seeking a woman’s undying love and affection—just a chance to share her bed. He made a point to make sure the women he messed around with knew the difference.

  “I take it you knew Drew,” he said, indicating the obvious.

  The frown returned to the elderly woman’s face. “Oh, yes, I knew Drew. He would have messed up my daughter’s life if we hadn’t sent her off to school in Florida with my sister. She was so convinced she was in love with him and that he loved her. Everyone in town knew he didn’t love anyone but himself. That was over thirty years ago. She eventually married and got on with her life.”

  Donovan nodded, happy for her daughter. There was no need to tell her that although Drew had pretty much settled down some of his sons were following in their father’s footsteps. “Did you want to place an order?” he decided to ask her.

  She slowly began moving toward the counter. “Yes, I got a sick church member, and I want to send her a bunch of those flowers over there,” she said, pointing to the refrigerated glass case containing an assortment of flowers prearranged in a ceramic vase. “Any ones will do in the twenty-dollar price range.”

  “All right. Do you want to take them with you?” he asked, writing out the order form.

  “No, I want Kylie to have them delivered for me,” she said and then handed him a slip of paper.

  He glanced down at it. “Earline Darwin?” he asked. Of course he recognized the name.

  “Yes, you know her?” the elderly woman asked.

  “Yes, I know her.” But I want to get to know her niece even more.

  “Did you get a lot of orders while I was gone?”

  Donovan glanced up when his sister-in-law walked through the door. “Around three phone orders and only one walk-in. A Ms. Hayes stopped by to send a bunch of flowers to Earline Darwin.”

  “Like I said yesterday, Ms. Darwin is a popular lady. I’ll make sure she gets them tomorrow,” Kylie said, moving to the register to close it out for the day.

  “No need. I’ll drop them off on my way home.” Donovan figured Natalie would be there taking care of her aunt since she couldn’t get around much.

  Kylie tilted her head to look up at him with a bemused look on her face. “Why? Did Ms. Hayes say she wanted them delivered today?”

  “No, but I thought I could do that and also check on Ms. Darwin.”

  Kylie crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, what’s going on here, Donovan? You’re a nice guy and all but what’s the real reason you’re dropping by Ms. Darwin’s home? And I recognize the address. It’s not on your way home, nor is it close to the Racetrack Café. So just what are you up to, Donovan Ridge Steele?”

  Donovan tried hiding his smile by looking down at his feet. He’d gotten caught so he might as well come clean. Besides, this was Kylie. Since marrying Chance, she’d had two teenagers in the household to deal with—teens that Donovan had discovered could be as conniving as they came.

  He lifted his head to meet Kylie’s questioning gaze. “I told you that Ms. Darwin is my housekeeper.”

  She nodded. “Yes, you did mention that.”

  “Well, what I probably didn’t mention is that her niece is filling in for her for the next six weeks.”

  He watched as understanding shone on Kylie’s face. “She’s pretty, I imagine.”

  “Very.”

  Kylie frowned. “And knowing you like I do, I guess that means you want to add her to your ‘get-her-in-my-bed’ list.”

  He wondered what Kylie would think if she knew Natalie had already been in his bed; however, he hadn’t been in it with her. “Aw, come on, Kylie. You make me sound like the rake of the year. I’m very up-front with any woman I become involved with. I tell her what to expect and what not to expect.”

  “But that’s no guarantee that they won’t fall in love with you anyway. I don’t want to remind you about Alyson Greer.”

  Donovan rolled his eyes. “Please don’t bring her up. And I did explain to Alyson how things would be, but she refused to take me at my word because she had her own agenda. What you don’t want to accept, Kylie, is that there are women just like me out there who don’t want a lasting relationship any more than I do. Those are the women I deal with. Plain and simple.”

  From her expression, he could tell his words hadn’t been too convincing so he said. “Trust me, Kylie. It’s not that serious.”

  She lifted a brow. “I don’t know about that, Donovan. I’m the mother of a daughter whom I want to be aware of men like you.”

  His grin didn’t waver since he didn’t take her words as an insult. “And your daughter has an uncle who would defend her honor to the hilt if he had to. But, again, the women I deal with know the score. If they choose not to believe what I tell them, or if for some reason they get it into their heads that I’m a man who can be caught and tamed, it’s their fault and not mine.”

  He and his sisters-in-law had had this conversation several times before, and his stomach knotted at the awful memories. One night they had cornered him and all but made him promise to be considerate of women’s feelings. It had taken him a full hour or so to convince them that he was.

  He watched as Kylie sighed in frustration before walking over to open the glass case. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Donovan. I have a feeling that one day will be payback for you, and some woman is going to break your heart.”

  He chuckled. “Trust me, sweetheart, it’s not going to happen.”

  “Aren’t those flowers just lovely, Nat?”

  Natalie smiled
as she placed a bowl of soup in front of her aunt while glancing at the flowers that had been delivered earlier that day from Donovan Steele. “Yes, they are pretty, Aunt Earline. But then all your flowers are simply beautiful.”

  And she had received quite a few from various church members, neighbors and friends. Natalie had a feeling why her aunt thought the ones from Donovan were so special. Because she hadn’t expected them. There certainly hadn’t been any flower deliveries from Kelly and Simpkins.

  “I need to send him a thank-you card.”

  Natalie knew it would be a lost cause to tell her aunt there was no hurry in doing that, so she didn’t.

  “You got two calls today from potential clients. I got their addresses to mail them out a brochure,” she said sitting down across from her aunt at the table.

  “Thanks.”

  “And the Baxters called to cancel their service on Thursday. They’re going out of town.”

  For the next hour Natalie brought her aunt up to speed on everything that had happened that day with the business including the bad news that they’d received a resignation from one of their employees whom they considered dependable.

  “I hate that Lola will be leaving us in the fall, but I’m glad she’s decided to return to school. She only has a few credits left before she gets her college degree. And at least she gave us a lot of notice for us to find a replacement.”

  And then it was time for her aunt’s afternoon nap. After making sure she had taken her medicine and was comfortably settled in bed, Natalie was just leaving her aunt’s bedroom and closing the door behind her when the doorbell sounded. Not wanting the sound to disturb her aunt, she quickly headed toward the front of the house, wondering if one of her aunt’s church members had come calling.

  She glanced out the peephole in the door, and her chest immediately tightened. Donovan Steele was standing on the porch. What on earth could the man want? Glancing down at her skirt and blouse, and deciding she looked decent enough, she quickly ran her fingers through her hair and then she inhaled deeply before slowly opening the door.